hi, i believe (sorry if i am wrong, feel free to correct me anyone) that there shouldn't be too many physical health risks apart from STD's, maybe if you could cope with someone poking around that area go to a clinic and get a sexual health check up. My friends who have been abused main problems are with things like cutting, eating disorders, multiple personnality dsiorder and self halming

Thank you very much for replying. I am going to see my gynecologist in about 3 months, so I may have a check-up or something then. I have heard of abuse victims having problems with eating, cutting, depression, and anger.

Obviously, if the victim was very young there is the risk of torn tissue, etc or contracting STDs. However, I assume you made it through all that. Most sex abuse victims have psychological/emotional disorders (depression, eating disorders, etc) and these can continue for life. Based on your post, it is obvious that you were the victim. I recommend that you discuss it with a medical professional (MD, nurse, etc) and find out if you could benefit from a support group or counselling. Good luck.

Hi Sehsun, I'm about to tell something that until now, ONLY my closest family & my therapist knew. I don't remember any of the physical damage or risk when it happened to me, just the mental damage. I was 13 during the summer of 1974. I was doing yard work for neighbors to earn money. A couple, I would say in their late 40's, took me to a country place of theirs and then molested, No, they raped me. Basically did everything you can imagine to me. Sorry, didn't mean to get that deep into it. What I was trying to say is, definatly go to your Dr., and if need be, to a therapist/counselor. If there are family and/or friends you can talk to, truly confide in, do it. I am happy to say, I'm 40, & happily married. Ive helped raise a stepdaughter, stepson, 2 foster daughters and a foster son. You may not (hopefully) have any physical problems, but sometimes, the mental part of it can hit.
Again, I apologize for being so open about me, when you were the one with the question.

Michael a.k.a. Sparky, I am aware of the mental damage that can occur with abuse. Thanks for sharing your story, and don't worry, you didn't say too much about it. I've been seeing a therapist since November 2001 when I was diagnosed with depression, but I just told her about my other situation in May. I was able to share the story with my parents and some other people, too. Sharing that story has made me feel relieved, like a heavy burden was lifted from my back. I know I can grow stronger through the adversities I've been through.

The most important thing, other than getting into counseling is to be aware. Sometimes, out of the blue, something will hit you to remind you of it, or without explanation, you get very depressed or feel out of control. It's important to be aware of that and have a support system and plan to take care of yourself. You can be doing jim-dandy for years and then "Whoomp!" out of the blue, its like it happened yesterday.

When it affected me the most was when I have been in a relationship - trusting people to get that close to me still freaks me out from time to time.

When I was 10, I had a sexual experience with a 15 year old. I guess you could call it sexual abuse.
For me, I desided that nobody would touch me unless I wanted them to. Therefore, I took up jujitsu/judo at 15. The martial art was my "therapy".
When people talk of going to a counselor, I recommend they also learn to defend themselves. In that way, the event doesn't get repeated.
Practice Safer Sex

I have a couple of lingering problems. The 1st one was that the couple that raped me had ALOT of porn mags that they used to show me what they wanted me to do to them. I still have a big problem with wanting to look at porn. The other being that the male made me do several things to him including bj. I still have a curiosity about having sex with another male. I'm very happily married and I'm not going to do anything to ruin it, but I still have those feelings. <IMG SRC="http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/frown.gif">